Eight of the best cheese boards in London: Post-Brexit, are you wondering where your next brie is coming from?
1. Fenchurch at Sky Garden, 20 Fenchurch Street, EC3M
If you like to scoff cheese and wine while looking down at the great thronging crowds of London town, then there are few places that can compete with the glass magnificence of the Walkie Talkie. Its cheese platter comes from Covent Garden-based Neal’s Yard Dairy and it’s accompanied by oatcakes and the house chutney.
3 cheeses for £9 or 5 for £14, skygarden.london
2. Wiltons, 55 Jermyn Street, SW1Y
Another cheese patriot, this restaurant in the heart of St James’ is older than the United States of America and has a cheese board that spans the length and breadth of the British Isles, from a Welsh Caerphilly to an Isle of Mull cheddar. You can travel the kingdom by ordering the British Farmhouse Cheeseplate, or ask for individual cheeses on request.
British Farmhouse Cheeseplate is £14, wiltons.co.uk
3. Smith & Wollensky, 1-11 John Adam Street, WC2N
For those who see cheese as an indulgence, this restaurant off the Strand has just the ornate trolley to make all your wildest cheese dreams come true. There are 12 British varieties to choose from – one goat’s, one sheep’s and the rest cow’s – including an aged Lancashire Bomb, a Colston Bassett Stilton, a Stinking Bishop and a sinister-yet-much-politer-sounding Oxford Isis.
4 cheeses for £8 or 8 pieces for £15, smithandwollensky.co.uk
4. City Zebrano, 18-22 Houndsditch, EC3A 7DB
Crackers aside, few things go better with cheese than prosecco. And there’s no better prosecco than bottomless, which is the cheese deal at City Zebrano. All the classics are out to play: cheddars and bries from La Fromagerie, with quince jelly and celery playing a supporting role on the board.
Free flowing prosecco and cheese board is £20pp, zebranolondon.com
5. Boundary, 2-4 Boundary Street, E2
Prescott and Conran’s restaurant in Shoreditch has an epically-named Chariot de Fromages cheese board on its French a la carte menu. Its products are actually matured by Marylebone cheesemongers La Fromagerie, which provides two cheeses exclusively to the Boundary: Brillant aux Truffe and Roquefort Papillon.
Chariot de Fromages is £14, boundary.london
6. Andaz, 40 Liverpool Street, EC2M
This City-based five star hotel has recently expanded its 1901 Wine Lounge bar, and it’s a perfect place for a wine lover to get into cheese. It sources its platters locally from Androuet in Old Spitalfields Market.
Cheese and wine pairings from £9, andaz.hyatt.com
7. Lutyens, 85 fleet street, EC4Y
Boundary’s sister restaurant in the City specialises in British cheeses such as Wigmore, Innes Log, Crozier Blue and Tunworth. All of them are from Neal’s Yard Dairy and are served up with oat cakes and quince jelly.
Lutyens Cheese Platter is £12, Lutyens-restaurant.com
Photo by Mark Whitfield
8. Boisdale, Bishopsgate, EC2M
With restaurants in Bishopsgate, Canary Wharf and Belgravia, there’s plenty of opportunity to sample the Scottish fine dining on offer at Boisdale. Its cheese board is entirely British and something to behold. Boasting around 25 cheeses, many are made from independent, regional producers such as the proud Cornish cheesemaker behind Miss Muffet, which is named after a friend “who is also sweet and nutty.”
5 cheeses for £10 or 10 for £18, boisdale.co.uk